Iniaes

In tech and security

CrowdStrike, Google, and the Shadowserver Foundation say they have disrupted infrastructure used by the Glassworm cybercrime group, cutting off access to victims. The group had been using a remote access trojan to repeatedly target developers of widely used open-source software. A tidy reminder that even the people who build the internet have to keep swatting at the plumbing.

In U.S. news

A Trump supporter in California died after what witnesses described as an unprovoked attack outside a home, and the suspect now faces multiple charges. The case is being investigated as a violent assault that turned fatal.

Matthew Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, was sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. Prosecutors said he played a central role in the drug supply that led to Perry’s death.

President Trump also held a Cabinet meeting that touched on Iran, Ebola, the midterms, and renovation plans in Washington. Separate from that, he said Oman should “behave” over the Strait of Hormuz or face a U.S. attack, a comment that managed to be both alarming and oddly specific.

In Europe and the Middle East

Russia is moving ahead with legislation that would give banks a role in shooting down Ukrainian drones, using jamming systems and trained employees at financial institutions to help with air defense. That is one way to expand national security, if your definition of “national security” includes the teller line.

Several EU states have summoned Russian envoys over threats involving Kyiv, even as Moscow signals some acceptance of a ceasefire idea. The diplomatic temperature remains high, and the gap between public hints and actual restraint still looks wide.

In Latin America

Colombian President Gustavo Petro is under criminal investigation over allegations that he improperly intervened in politics four days before voters went to the polls. The case adds another legal headache to an already contentious political climate.

In society

New figures from England and Wales show White British births falling to a record low, with more than a third of mothers born overseas and 27 percent of births to two foreign-born parents. The data also show births to European-born mothers declining, while births to mothers from Middle Eastern and Asian backgrounds rose.

In U.S. news

Texas Democrats picked former Rep. Colin Allred in a Dallas-area House runoff, a small but real win for Rep. Jasmine Crockett after state Rep. James Talarico beat her in the Senate primary. In Virginia Beach, police say a white nationalist march over Memorial Day weekend did not require a permit, a finding that has left observers uneasy.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi also says she has been diagnosed with cancer and has already undergone surgery and treatment. She says she is doing well.

In business

In Paris, Cyrille Bolloré told shareholders there is “no political project” behind the family’s role at Canal+, even as the group faces backlash over its influence. He also urged Universal Music Group to reject Bill Ackman’s $64 billion takeover proposal, saying it is not being made with Ackman’s own money.

Separately, BP said its board removed chairman Albert Manifold with immediate effect, citing serious governance and conduct concerns, including bullying allegations.

In health

The American Cancer Society has updated its colorectal cancer screening guidelines to add two new options, including a first-ever blood test. It still recommends regular colonoscopy every 10 years starting at age 45 and continuing through age 75.

In Alabama

Police in Alabama say a 22-year-old mother has been charged with murder and aggravated child abuse after investigators accused her of injecting a liquid solution through her 17-month-old son’s feeding tube, killing him. Authorities say the child was brought to a Mobile hospital on May 4 and died the next day, and that the case surfaced after doctors alerted child welfare officials to troubling lab results.

In Spain

Police raided the headquarters of Spain’s ruling Socialist Party in Madrid, adding fresh pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

In U.S. politics

Donald Trump is still steering Republican politics in Texas, even after helping push longtime Senator John Cornyn out of the race. Senate Republicans are rallying behind Ken Paxton for the general election, despite plenty of unease in Washington about his baggage. The party says keeping the seat matters more than reliving the primary. A familiar standard, which is to say the math is doing the talking.

In business and tech

Berkshire Hathaway sold 16 stocks in the first quarter and fully exited 12 of them as Greg Abel took over as CEO, a sign the company’s investing style may be shifting with the succession. Elsewhere, Groupon said it will cut up to 400 jobs, about a quarter of its workforce, as it leans harder into AI and automation. The company expects AI voice agents to take over sales calls, which is efficient if slightly hostile to the idea of having a job.

In world news

Scotland’s devolved parliament has voted to demand the power to hold another independence referendum, with First Minister John Swinney trying to use political turbulence in London to press the case. In Brussels, EU lawmakers are accusing the European Commission of copying Microsoft-style lobbying arguments in rules on data centre transparency. And in a more urgent update, five people have been rescued alive after a week trapped in a flooded cave in Laos, while the search continues for two others.

Ghana has also begun repatriating its citizens as xenophobic tensions rise in South Africa.

In public safety and health

A doctor who died while treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been buried. Separately, a new study says nearly a third of Europe’s health and social care workers are exposed to cancer-causing risks on the job, including in X-ray rooms and anatomy laboratories. And in London, about 100 firefighters responded to a supermarket blaze in Golders Green, with officials saying it is not believed to be suspicious.

On the courts and the culture docket

Matthew Perry’s sisters gave emotional victim impact statements ahead of sentencing for his former assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, accusing him of repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine on the day he died in October 2023. Cardi B has also filed a new lawsuit accusing blogger Tasha K’s husband of helping shield money from a court judgment, extending a legal fight that has clearly decided it is not finished with either side.

On the court and the floor

Oklahoma City took a 3-2 lead over San Antonio in the Western Conference finals, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 32 points in a 127-114 win. The Thunder are now one victory away from the NBA Finals.

In the war in Ukraine

Ukraine says its forces hit several Russian military targets overnight, including an air base inside Russia, a naval headquarters in occupied Sevastopol, an aviation repair plant, and an oil terminal linked to Black Sea operations. Separately, a Ukrainian commander warned Belarus not to deepen its role in Russia’s war, saying there are hundreds of potential targets there. Western embassies in Kyiv, for their part, are not packing up and leaving on Moscow’s schedule.

In business and tech

Zscaler says demand for zero trust security remains strong, helped by rising concern over AI-driven threats, but new customer growth is slowing and investors are still eyeing leadership turnover and the Red Canary integration with caution. Taiwan’s AI chip exports are powering strong economic growth, though the gains are not landing evenly. Germany, meanwhile, is dealing with a different version of the same old problem: wealth concentrating sharply at the top, with about 5,000 ultra-rich people holding more than a quarter of financial wealth.

In public health and regulation

Several countries, including the Bahamas, Canada and Thailand, are tightening travel restrictions in response to an Ebola outbreak that officials say could worsen. In the UK, the Nursing and Midwifery Council says it failed to check whether some people who should have been barred from healthcare were still working, leaving patients exposed for years. A regulator admitting the system was “completely and utterly unacceptable” is, at least, a refreshingly direct sentence.

In Europe and the Middle East

Israel says it killed the newly appointed head of Hamas’s military wing in a strike in Gaza, identifying him as one of the architects of the October 7 attacks. Kuwait has also ordered a $1 billion NASAMS air defense system as Gulf tensions remain elevated.

In the UK

Energy bills are set to rise for millions of households under the new price cap, with a typical home expected to pay £221 more a year. The timing, as ever, is elegant.

In U.S. crime and public safety

Police in Delaware County are investigating a shooting in Chester, Pennsylvania, that left one man hospitalized. In South Philadelphia, a 17-year-old remains in critical condition after being shot in the stomach at a friend’s house, where investigators say several teens had been handling a gun owned by an adult resident. Police have not determined whether the wound was self-inflicted, and they say people inside the home have not been cooperative.

In energy and the environment

South West Water has told customers to half-fill paddling pools and cover them if they want the water to last, even though its reservoirs in Devon and Cornwall are reportedly 85 to 90 percent full. The company also says it is losing 107 million litres a day to unrepaired leaks, which is an odd pitch for conservation during a record-hot May.

At the other end of the world, researchers at Germany’s Neumayer Station III have lost fuel, batteries, and part of a living quarters unit after supply containers were carried away on an iceberg into the Weddell Sea. Officials say the remaining fuel likely leaked when the ice broke apart or sank, and they have since tightened storage rules near the ice shelf edge.

In business and technology

China’s industrial profits rose 24.7 percent in April, the fastest pace in more than two years, helped by stronger exports, higher producer prices, and better results in upstream industries. Separately, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang said U.S. chip export curbs have helped accelerate China’s own AI industry by pushing local firms to move faster.

In science and the climate

Researchers documenting Indonesia’s last tropical glaciers say the ice in West Papua has shrunk to a fraction of its original size. The glaciers on Puncak Jaya have lasted longer than earlier forecasts suggested, but expedition footage shows they are now close to disappearing.

In tech and security

GitHub is telling administrators of self-hosted git servers to rotate their public encryption keys after a May 18 breach tied to a poisoned VS Code extension used by an employee. The company says about 3,800 repositories were compromised and is rotating keys across the board. The broader message is simple, if unnerving: supply-chain attacks are now reaching into the tools developers trust most.

That same pressure is driving new spending. Socket has raised $60 million in a Thrive Capital-led Series C round at a $1 billion valuation, and it plans to widen its software supply-chain security platform beyond package managers to developer tools and AI coding systems. Meanwhile, the White House has replaced Biden-era federal logging mandates with a narrower, risk-based cyber framework focused on threat hunting and forensic readiness, a shift that should help agencies move faster when intrusions do.

And in healthcare, The Oncology Institute says a 2025 hack at a third-party billing vendor exposed patient data, though it has not disclosed how many people were affected.

In U.S. politics

The White House is preparing to loosen the refugee cap, but only for white South Africans, according to a forthcoming memo. That is a remarkably specific use of refugee policy, even by current standards.

Separately, construction is underway on the White House lawn for a UFC arena expected to host a mixed martial arts fight on June 14, tying together Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the United States. Some administrations build monuments; this one appears to be building a cage.

In science and space

NASA says it is aiming for a working lunar base by 2029, with the first phase calling for 25 launches, 21 landings, and about four tonnes of cargo sent to the Moon’s south pole. The agency has also awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to four U.S. companies as it pushes the project forward with commercial, academic, and international partners.

In global business and resources

Australia is moving to limit Chinese involvement in its rare earths sector as part of a broader push to become a major power in critical minerals. It is a familiar strategic scramble, only with more rocks and fewer press conferences.

In tech and security

European pressure on strategic tech assets is getting real. Dutch authorities have blocked New York-based Kyndryl from buying Amsterdam-based secure cloud provider Solvinity, a company seen as important to the Netherlands. On the same front, the security picture inside companies is getting messier, with AI agents emerging as a new identity type that many firms are not yet controlling well enough.

Okta’s Charlotte Wylie says shadow agents, overly broad access, and AI-driven attacks are creating a visibility gap, which is a polite way of saying the machines have started to show up without badges. Separately, Microsoft has patched a high-severity Visual Studio Code flaw that could let attackers hide malicious settings inside MCP server install links and gain persistent access to developer PCs during what looked like routine AI tool installs.

In U.S. politics

The Trump administration is asking for comment on draft non-disclosure agreements for federal employees, both new hires and current staff, as part of an effort to curb leaks and reinforce rules around non-public information. The proposal also leaves open what happens if employees refuse to sign, which should reassure absolutely no one.

In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing a key vote after years of baggage that includes alleged affairs, a divorce, and an earlier impeachment. He is trying to keep his political coalition intact while voters are asked, once again, to separate the office from the man holding it.

In the courts

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has struck down the state’s ban on binary triggers, ruling that lawmakers violated the constitution’s single-subject rule when they tucked the measure into a tax-and-spending bill. The court upheld an earlier ruling in a case brought by the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, handing another setback to Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic lawmakers.

In brief

Police in London are appealing for witnesses after a man in his 20s was stabbed on Portobello Road in Notting Hill on Monday night. Witnesses said three men chased him before the attack near restaurant tables, leaving diners shaken. He was taken to hospital, no arrests have been made, and enquiries continue.

In Belgium, four people were killed when a train collided with a school bus at a level crossing, one of the worst accidents at that site. Officials are still dealing with the aftermath, which is grim even by the standards of rail safety failures.

And at sea, the sanctioned Russian diesel tanker Universal has changed course away from Cuba after weeks of erratic movement. The vessel is now heading toward the South Atlantic, which is not usually where you want a ship to be if its itinerary has already become a mystery.

In public safety

Louisville police say Bobby Atkinson threatened to kill his wife after she confronted him about an affair and a possible child with another woman, then allegedly came back inside with a handgun, made a death threat, and later set two family dogs on fire. The dogs were taken for treatment. Atkinson was arrested on charges including animal torture, assault, menacing, and terroristic threatening.

In Chester City, Pennsylvania, a police officer was injured Tuesday morning while responding to an incident at 9th Street and Meadow Lane. The officer was taken to the hospital, but officials have not said what led to the response or whether anyone has been arrested.

In the courts

A three-judge federal panel has blocked Alabama from using new congressional maps, issuing a preliminary injunction in the state’s long-running redistricting fight. The plan had been expected to help Republicans, but for now it stays on hold while the case continues.

In Washington

Donald Trump is scheduled to return to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday for what the White House calls an annual physical and routine preventive care. It will be his fourth publicly announced medical examination since returning to office, which is a lot of checkups for a man who insists he is fine.

In international news

Iran’s new supreme leader says U.S. military bases have no place in the region, in his longest public statement so far. The comments came as CENTCOM acknowledged overnight strikes on missile sites and Iranian boats laying mines, while a tanker was hit near Oman.

In sports

Don Rea Jr. is out as president of the PGA of America, effective immediately, after backlash over his response to verbal abuse aimed at European players during last year’s Ryder Cup. The PGA board had already suspended him for the rest of his term, and vice president Nathan Charnes is now acting president.

In U.S. politics

Donald Trump’s approval rating has slipped to 37 percent in a new Strength In Numbers and Verasight poll, with 60 percent disapproving. The same survey shows Democrats ahead on the generic congressional ballot, 51 to 43 among registered voters, and 51 to 41 among all adults.

Trump is also set for physical and dental exams at Walter Reed, his third checkup there in 13 months, which is a lot of medical traffic for a man still trying to project total invincibility. In Georgia, Republican gubernatorial front-runner Burt Jones is openly bragging about his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, treating it like a résumé item instead of a warning label.

In the UK and Northern Ireland

The trial of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has begun, with a jury sworn in and Donaldson pleading not guilty to all 18 charges, including rape. Separately, searches have started for the remains of Seamus Maguire, one of the disappeared, in a case authorities believe involved murder and secret burial.

In London, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has backed a ban on social media for under-16s as the government’s consultation closes, saying regulators and politicians have been “asleep at the wheel.” The debate has been sharpened by the father of Mia Janin, who is calling for tougher action against social media firms after an inquest found she was bullied on Snapchat and TikTok before taking her own life.

Also in England, new figures show a sharp rise in rapists avoiding prison, with 114 people convicted of rape spared custody last year, up from 69 in 2022. The government has launched an urgent review after three teenage rapists were spared jail.

In business

Ferrari shares fell after the company unveiled its first electric car, the Luce, a minimalist design by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive. The model starts at $640,000, promises a 329-mile range and a 0 to 100 km/h time of 2.5 seconds, but some analysts questioned whether it still looks enough like a Ferrari to keep the faithful calm.

In tech and online safety

Labour chair Anna Turley says the government should tighten internet rules for children, and has left open the idea of a social media ban for younger users. That comes as Liz Kendall opens a one-month consultation. Meanwhile, a San Francisco woman is suing OpenAI, saying ChatGPT helped a violent stalker find her and that the company ignored her pleas for help. In a separate development, Google engineer Eric Biggers has posted proof-of-concept Linux patches for post-quantum cryptography, an early step toward making future security standards less hypothetical and more usable.

In the UK

The country has recorded its first tropical night of the year, with temperatures at Kenley airfield in south London not dropping below 21.3C. That followed the hottest May day on record, and broke the record for the highest daily minimum temperature in May for a second day running.

In Halifax, a 13-year-old boy has died after getting into difficulty in the water at Leadbeater Dam on Monday afternoon. Police say they do not believe there were suspicious circumstances and inquiries are continuing.

Separately, millions of salmon deaths at Scottish fish farms have been disclosed after the government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency was forced to release inspection reports. The documents cite accidental poisoning and suffocation. The companies involved had preferred, in a touch of vintage transparency, that the reports stay hidden.

In world news

Authorities in Arizona are examining a pajama top found near Highway 79 in the long-running Nancy Guthrie disappearance case, about 30 minutes from her Tucson home. It is one more item being checked as the case remains unsolved.

In Sydney, almost 90 light drones crashed during a popular winter show at Darling Harbour.

Obituaries

Sonny Rollins, one of jazz’s great saxophonists, has died at 95. He left behind landmark recordings including Saxophone Colossus and The Bridge, and was honored in 2010 with the National Medal of Arts.